Rigor mortis occurs because of sustained contractions of the muscles cells. This is due to the ATP supply being readily depleted because the cells are in various stages of dying. In the context of the Sliding Filament Hypothesis, what is occuring at the cytoskeleton level to cause this sustained contraction?
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With no oxygen, ATP is no longer being made and unable to bind to the correct site to allow for the active transport of calcium ions and allow muscles to relax. Because of this calcium ions are permanently defusing and bound to troponin, which cause actin and myosin muscle fibers to remain contracted, creating the stiff effect we see in corpses.